


epoche

by galaxyeyedrops



Series: fluctuations [2]
Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 03:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7961239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyeyedrops/pseuds/galaxyeyedrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follows the hedonic treadmill. </p><p>There are few informants better than Shinonome Shouma, but the man comes with his own drawbacks. For one, his awful personality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	epoche

**Author's Note:**

> IM STILL SCREAMING ABOUT LATEST VANGUARD G, AMLUNA IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND GOOD.
> 
> ALSO like shion's the main character but the narrative mostly refers to shinonome shouma as "shouma", im sorry i cant keep full name basis, but like shion once referred to myoujin ryuzu as just "ryuzu" so like, it could happen, okay, by total accident...

“No guard.”

Shion drives check his first card. 

A grade three. No trigger. 

His second. 

A perfect guard. No trigger. 

His third. 

Another grade three. No trigger.

Across the table, Shinonome Shouma smiles as he places a card into his damage zone.

His fifth card, to be exact. Shion’s got the same amount of damage himself, and if he can just last one more turn, just this one, he’ll be able to clinch victory when his comes around. It shouldn’t be hard, there were no more stand or heal triggers to draw, and only two criticals. With that in mind, Shion puts his stride unit back in his G-Zone face up and turns back to face his opponent.

Shouma draws a card. He immediately puts it into his drop zone. “Stride Generation,” he calls out. “I ride Great Angel Doom Brace.”

He moves three cards from his soul and place them in the drop zone, as well, then soul charges three more. “Doom Brace’s skill, plus five thousand each to Medusa and Dromi.” He then counterblasts two cards, retrieves two of the those he just put in the drop zone and places them on an empty column, “Chamomile and Melissa’s skill.”

“Hati’s skill,” he adds, pointing at the unit behind his vanguard. “Plus three thousand.”

“Dromi boosts, Medusa attacks your vanguard.”

“Generation Guard.” Shion places two Eponas on the Guardian Circle as well for good measure.

His opponent raises an eyebrow but, for once in his life, doesn’t comment.

“Hati boosts, Doom Brace attacks.”

“Perfect Guard.”

Shouma does this trigger checks in quick succession and draws no triggers. He’s not surprised, though, already switching to his next attack.

“Melissa boosts, Chamomile attacks.”

Okay, seventeen thousand attack, he had this. “Suleiman intercepts and…”

Shion looks back to his hand and remembers guarding against Shouma’s first attack. The power should have been about twenty-seven thousand, yet he had wasted an extra card guarding against it. To have made an amatuer mistake like this, against Shinonome Shouma of all people…

It was mortifying.

Shouma, himself, smirks. “Bad day, Shion? I didn’t make this deal for fights like that.”

Shion’s blood boils, the urge to punch Shouma in his smug face and give him a  _ real fight _ burns underneath his skin, but Shion squashes it, slowly breathes in and out.

“This week’s meeting is over,” he says, forcing his voice to remain level. “Do you have the information on the Touma Group?”

Shouma walks toward him, drawing a brown manilla envelope from inside his jacket. 

“Here,” he says, handing it to Shion. “As promised.”

Shion pulls them out to check. 

The information, as usual, is incredibly meticulous. The evidence neatly catalogued, the reasoning thought out and flowing perfectly from one point to the the next. There was even a bit extra, detailing Ibuki’s current case (which Shouma was not told about, but Shion had stopped being surprised a long time ago), giving a list of people to look into.

All in all, far better than any of Shion’s own sources could provide.

It's in moments like these that Shion can understand why Myoujin Ryuzu had Shouma, a self-professed wild card, as his top advisor within Company. Understands (but still hates) how the Kiba Corporation keeps him as their CEO.

Shion puts the papers back in order, sliding them into the folder with a sigh. 

By that time, Shouma’s somehow procured two cans of hot coffee, offering the unopened one to Shion. 

Shion eyes it dubiously for second, before deciding that he's too tired to care, opening it and sipping it slowly. 

It's good, Shion takes note of the brand name, but doesn't relay that thought to Shouma. 

He finishes it quickly enough, carrying it to the recycling bin across the room and tossing it in. 

“Same time next week?”

“Of course,” Shouma says. 

“But,” he adds, far too amused for Shion’s comfort. “I think we'll be seeing each other before then.”

Shion shoots him a questioning look but Shouma doesn't elaborate, leaving him to show himself out. 

Shion resolves to start carrying alcohol swabs, cold packs, and gauze for the next few days or so. 

So, you know, if he ends up messing up hand by punching Shinonome Shouma, he’ll be prepared.

  
  


The walk to the train station is calm enough, and Shion takes the opportunity to grab breakfast (a cereal bar and a bottle of milk), finishing up right as his train pulls in. 

He arrives at the United Sanctuary branch well ahead of time, but the receptionist (nice lady, she helped him cover up a black eye once) lets him know that Ibuki is already in his office, so he heads right over. 

Ibuki answers at the first knock. There are bags underneath his eyes, the effect of pulling one too many all-nighters, but he opens the door to let Shion in regardless. 

After the incident with Myoujin Ryuzu, the Vanguard Association decided to create something around the lines of an internal affairs department, making sure everyone stayed on the straight and narrow. 

Behind the scenes, they worked on some of the more fantastical cases the police dismissed out of hand, seeing if there was any connection with vanguard, making sure that they knew about the apocalypse before it came knocking on their doors. 

And Ibuki was the one chosen to head that department. 

Shion, himself, isn't an employee, but he's got a vested interest in this world and couple dozen informants so he's far from unwelcome. He's also thought of as Shinonome Shouma’s unofficial handler (and, to be honest, the idea of being responsible for  _ that  _ in any capacity is pretty unwelcome).

Ibuki did say something about spinning it an internship after Shion turns sixteen, but until then, unofficial he stays. 

Shion hands the envelope to Ibuki once he's made sure (yet again) that the office is secure, waiting until he's looked through it once, then twice before speaking. 

“I think he's up to something.”

“Shinonome?”

“Yes,” Shion says. “He said something around the lines of being certain we'd meet up again soon.”

“Any ideas?”

“None at the moment, he's been relatively tame the past month and a half, I'll have the Bloody Angels looking into it, of course, but…”

“I'll have my people keep an eye out.” Ibuki pauses, then looks up at Shion with an unreadable expression. “Have you considered that he found out about  _ that _ ?”

  
Shion shakes his head. “If he did, I feel like he'd end our weekly sessions instead.”

**Author's Note:**

> im really out of touch with the meta, but I Tried
> 
> heres to hoping i finish a multichap for once


End file.
